A study examined the meanings 20 student (physical education) teachers gave to their student teaching experiences. Investigated were the student teachers' definitions of role competence and incompetence. A critical incident report form, on which student teachers recorded two specific incidents occurring during student teaching (one dealing with role competence, the other with role incompetence), was used to collect data. Four patterns appeared consistent when the data were analyzed: (1) language used in describing incidents, categorized as Incident Descriptors; (2) number and structure of individuals involved in the incidents, categorized as Incident Involvement; (3) incidents refering to specific domains of student behavior and activity, classified as Incident Domain; and (4) combination of the two previous patterns, categorized as Incident Involvement X Domain. Findings emerging from an analysis of Incident Descriptors indicated that competent teaching experiences were defined by students working on appropriate activities within the planned lesson. Incompetent teaching experiences emphasized students' wasting time and not listening, and teachers' trying a behavior that did not work. Analysis of Incident Involvement showed that both incompetent and competent teaching most often involved experiences with the entire class. In the area of Incident Domain, social domain was ranked first for both role competence and incompetence. Analysis of Incident Involvement X Domain indicated that social experience with the entire class dominated both incompetent and competent teaching experiences. (CJ)